My daughter is 18 months old, I have been teaching her since 2 or 3 months with YBCR, Little Math, Flashcards. slideshows…ect. I only get her educational toys for the most part. I find that she is ahead of the toys for her age group. What are some good toys that you have given to your children? I really like Melissa and Doug products they are educational and good quailty. I am also looking into purchasing my daughter a keyboard…I am very tight on space but my daughter shows great interest in music…any suggestions on a good keyboard? I don’t want to get a toy one because I do not want to waste money on something she is going to grow out of, I want to get a real keyboard since I do not have room for a piano.
I have the same problem with toys as you. I don’t like the crappy plastic ones and I prefer as few electronic toys as possible.
Have you considered getting a smaller instrument, like a recorder?
I would love for her to play any instrument, so I have thought about smaller instruments. My sister bought my daughter little tikes instruments for her when she way 6 months a xylophone, drum and piano…she loves all of these…she loves banging on things. I think the piano is better then the drums in my situation. lol She is really good at playing these toy instruments so I am interested in getting her a real one.
Wooden toys are def. superior to the plastic ones. They are so much higher in quaility. I love the wooden puzzles, and blocks (although my daughter has MegaBlocks, which are okay) Melissa and Doug products are not only superior in quailty but I like that they are educational. I just purchased Melissa & Doug crayons and a coloring book for my daughter because I have heard that their crayons are really hard to break, they don’t have paper on them and they are triangular. I hope they live up to my expectations. I bought a box of crayola’s and as soon as I gave them to my daughter they just broke in pieces. So I am done wasting my money on their products.
Try looking into the Hohner Kids line of instruments. Hohner makes instruments for adults, too. I find that their children’s line is generally superior to what you are able to purchase in regular toy stores. They pay attention to pitch and quality.
We got our daughter an electronic keyboard last year. Like you, I did not have space for an upright piano and I was planning on getting computer software to teach her to play the piano. We eventually decided on this one: http://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-YPT-310-Sensitive-32-Note-Polyphony/dp/B000YC05AE/ref=pd_sxp_f_i We got it from Costco for $30 less and free shipping. There are probably a lot of less expensive keyboards out there but we decided on this one because:
- It has a MIDI connection for connecting to the computer.
- It has a Touch Response feature (striking a key harder will produce a louder sound, striking it softer will produce a softer sound) and responds like an acoustic piano.
- The keys do NOT light up which was what we were specifically looking for to make it less distracting for a toddler.
- It did not have a sustain pedal but we could get one cheaply and connect it to the keyboard easily when the need arises.
- Great product reviews on Amazon.
We have been using it for about a year and I am pretty happy with it. Initially, we used it to teach perfect pitch and note recognition and I was happy that we did not have to tune it periodically like a regular piano. Eventually, we purchased the Soft Mozart program and had no problems with setting it up with this keyboard, Ella is now 2.5 and loves playing the Guess Key game (for note recognition and perfect pitch training) on it. She can also now play the right hand of “Hot Cross Buns” perfectly and is learning to use both hands to play the song after about 2 weeks of daily practice. 
Hope this helps!
This is kind of a brain dump right here, but I got started replying to the topic on hand and kind of just kept going, so excuse the lengthiness!
http://www.amazon.com/Hohner-Piece-Rhythm-Instrument-Set/dp/B00000K3PW
While this is not the set I have, I have looked at this one and it seems to be a good choice. Also consider maracas, rain makers, and sandblocks. Pay attention to pitch and use a smart phone app to test the accuracy of your instruments you already own like keyboards, xylophones or glockenspiels. I took away my daughter’s toy piano (that she loved) because it was just training her with incorrect information. I just put it out of sight while she was sleeping and she thankfully has not asked for it. I will be replacing it soon though. Label pianos and such with their note letter names and/or solfege names. I used a label maker for this. Some programs come with pre-made stickers to put on the keys, but if you are just doing your own thing you can label them yourself.
My kids LOVE this lollipop drum. Our pre-zuki teacher uses one of these and I just had to buy one for home use. We got ours for $10 shipped on Ebay, I think it’s the midsize one. It’s by Remo Kids which is a reputable band in percussion, and they have quite a line of kids drums from bongos to floor toms and everything in between.
http://www.amazon.com/Remo-Kids-Percussion-Lollipop-Drum/dp/accessories/B0002IHEFY
I cut and pasted this quote from a discussion I had with a respected musician that is involved with teaching young children and also raised musical children of his own. I selected some info here and there from several emails that was most pertinent to this forum/discussion, but I did not take anything out of context.
"The best products are going to be ones that are engaging to both children and parents alike. The most important thing to understand is that most children's "so called" musical toys are not musical at all. Most of the keyboards are not properly tuned. All they do is offer bad information to children.....Also, there is a big difference between being musical and playing an instrument. Great instrumentalists encourage their children to practice musical dexterity. That is wonderful...but it doesn't really help in developing musicality. Learning grammar and spelling doesn't make you a great writer.Musicality is about communication and feeling. It is a language, the most powerful language. Start with the basics of tempo and beat. Clap hands to simple songs. Play notes for them and have them find the notes for themselves on a professional instrument (even if it is a simple instrument-just needs to be in tune). Have them sing the notes. Do the same thing with chords. Play a triad like Do, Re Mi. You’ll find that your knowledge and understanding of music will grow as you are helping them to learn. Encourage creativity."
We are mostly exposed to just a few simple major scales and a few keys. It’s like teaching a child about the letters A, C, F, G, N, T, Q, and Z, and expecting them to write a complete sentence…A child has a window of 2 to 3 years to absorb this information as a primary language. After that, they will only retain it as a secondary language.
And I am cutting and pasting this from a different email discussion with another knowledgeable individual that I felt was worth sharing here. I truly hope they don’t mind!
I asked about using a glockenspiel to teach pitch,which is very common in Doman style parenting…
Regarding instruments... If a piano could not be used, I would hesitate to use any bell-like instruments because their timbres have been documented to cause pitch confusion even among experienced absolute musicians. Bell-type sounds are difficult to identify absolutely because their timbre obscures the pitches. Tuning-fork sounds are difficult to identify absolutely because the information in the physical signal is solely pitch. Piano sounds are easiest to identify absolutely because their timbre enhances the pitches. And then... wind instruments are difficult to use because they require special skills to produce accurate tones. Stringed instruments are difficult to use because they must be accurately tuned before every use. Pianos avoid these problems. This doesn't mean that other instruments can't be used, but these are the reasons I know to recommend using the piano.
I thought his opinion was very interesting and makes sense (about bell instruments). While he is not familiar with Doman-style early education, young children’s brains are so amazing that I wonder if the tuning fork issues he mentions are truly applicable to them? TW has many people who have gone through their program and gained perfect pitch as a result and they are big advocates of using tuning forks, maybe his concerns are only an issue in older kids and adults not in this particular window of opportunity in the early years?
Although, for a bit more than the price of tuning forks, I can purchase a quality used digital piano and I think we will get more use out of the piano long term. After speaking with the experts at the piano shop, they recommended a Yamaha Clavinova or a Roland. I plan to go with the Clavinova b/c I read a comment online about Rolands not being as durable and I know the Yamaha brand is reputable in general. The Clavinovas are created using the sound of a grand piano and they are digital so they will not go out of tune. They run about $1000 and up new, but I have seen used ones in the local classifieds for $150-$400 and up, depending on age/condition, etc. I am hoping to find a CLP model because they are the simplest models with the fewest extra buttons to distract a child.
They mentioned that Yamaha, so not to lose the lower end customers, has another house brand called Arius that is not quite as nice as the Clavinova. They also said the furniture/cabinetry and such is a big part of what drives up the price in general for pianos.
My primary concerns are using a piano with the best possible pitch within my price range because this is what my kids will be using to train their ears on. It also has to be midi compatible, have 88 keys with weighted action that simulate a traditional acoustic piano, and preferably has a sustain pedal as well. I want it to be something that will grow with my family as long as it lasts anyway, something we can all use (adults included), and something that I don’t have to replace any sooner than absolutely necessary (hence the full keyboard with weighted keys). That way, hopefully when I buy a newer fancier model down the road (if they stick with piano) they will be old enough to enjoy it. Until then, just having quality sound is the biggest issue for me.
Maybe this information will help someone else out there. I know you mentioned you don’t have room for an entire piano, but I don’t know if they sell the clavinova’s without the furniture cabinet. I know the arius’s are sold without the cabinetry. Good luck with your music program!
PS If you like Melissa and Doug toys, check out Imaginarium toys as well, they carry them at toys r’ us. I just recently discovered them but they looked like they had some options similar to M & D. http://www.toysrus.com/family/index.jsp?categoryId=3542240&view=all And Montessori toys too for that matter (available lots of places online).
Teachingmytoddlers, you’ve just convinced me to have our piano tuned. 
thanks for typing all that out. I’d love to hear more of your musical education plan, as well. I’ll start another thread and maybe you can join me there?
On toys, I get Montessori “toys” from KidAdvance. There are a lot of places online, but I’ve had good experience with them. Here were some of my older child’s favorites at that age: (they strengthen fine motor skills needed later for writing among other skills)
http://www.kidadvance.com/Store/ProductDetails.asp?pid=633&catid=29
http://www.kidadvance.com/Store/ProductDetails.asp?pid=628&catid=29
-on this one, I believe this material was originally designed for the ball to be slightly larger than the whole and need to be squished in, this ball is smaller. I meant to make one to fit the purpose. I never got around to it, but it’s still been a popular toy with both kids
http://www.kidadvance.com/Store/ProductDetails.asp?pid=631&catid=29
http://www.kidadvance.com/Store/ProductDetails.asp?pid=756&catid=29
-another very popular toy. There are 5 “coins”, so we counted them, reinforcing quantity, as well as fine motor skill and developing concentration
http://www.kidadvance.com/Store/ProductDetails.asp?pid=852&catid=29
-but if you ever plan to get the 3-6 year old version, just get that and use every other one for a simpler toddler version, same with pink tower
http://www.kidadvance.com/Store/ProductDetails.asp?pid=266&catid=1
-there is a smaller (younger) version as well, but I only have the 3-6 year old version. My 1 year old has loved this for months now. She pulls every piece out everyday (I just use one, the one where every piece is too long to be a choking hazard), strengthening her fine motor skills needed for writing
-some of the other sensorial works may be interesting to her as well
I think kid advance toys are on the same quality level as Melissa and Doug (which I find to be a low, but affordable).
One of my favorite toy brands is http://www.tagtoys.com/ , and they are all high quality wooden and educational.
At 18 months, you could also do a lot of Montessori practical life activities. And you probably have most of the things at home already! Things like pouring, opening and closing different containers, spooning, etc. might be enjoyable.